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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25079341">One Weekend</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/quarentime_fiction/pseuds/quarentime_fiction'>quarentime_fiction</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Lore Olympus (Webcomic)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Domestic Fluff, Dorks in Love, Everyone Needs A Hug, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Romantic Fluff, She stays the weekend, no chaos ensues</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 03:40:49</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Rape/Non-Con</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>9,657</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25079341</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/quarentime_fiction/pseuds/quarentime_fiction</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“The butterfly thing…” he started, he sounded more nervous than he intended. And certainly, more nervous than Persephone had anticipated because suddenly her face was upturned, looking at him with curiosity. “Does that…um…happen every time?” </p><p>Set after episode 112. What would happen if Persephone hadn't left Hades' after breakfast? This is mostly fluffy with some heavier hurt/comfort thrown in.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hades/Persephone (Lore Olympus)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>293</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Saturday Afternoon</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I was inspired to write some fluffier stuff after seeing the BEAUTIFUL fanart by @maca.mars on Instagram. Her art has inspired some moments in this chapter and will probably inspire others, but she obviously gets credit for the original idea. You should all go check her art out, it's pretty awesome.</p><p>Also, Persephone thinks about what Apollo did, but nothing graphic or explicit.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Persephone didn’t want this morning to end. She didn’t want how she was feeling to end. Until Hades had shown up last night, she had felt like she was stuck in a whirlpool. She was spinning, struggling to keep track of where everybody was, how everybody was feeling, all while trying to process her own emotions and her own responsibilities. But everything around her was blurry, she knew about her to-do list items and knew that Apollo was around, she knew how she felt about it. But she couldn’t focus on her own life. Some version of Kore was trapped inside the greenhouse. Slamming on the glass, begging the Persephone on the outside to do something, to say how she was feeling, to do what she had to do.</p><p>When Hades showed up it was as if the glass panes had turned to sand and she was able to come back to herself, without risk of cutting herself on any jagged shards. Now, she had spent the last 12 hours doing exactly what she wanted, and knowing this was exactly how she wanted to feel.</p><p><em>Why does it have to end?</em> Persephone thought to herself, watching as Hades animatedly recounted the story of how he found Pomelia in the mortal realm.</p><p><em>It’s the weekend, Hades will probably be working from home. I would only be going back to Artemis’</em>. Persephone felt like the bread in her mouth turned to sawdust at the thought of going back to Artemis’s right now. She knew Artemis was going to be away for the day. And she was not confident that Eros’ threats would be enough to stop Apollo from coming by uninvited.<br/>Now she really didn’t want to go home.</p><p>“Do you have any plans for today?” She asked innocently when Hades had finished his story. He picked up his coffee cup and finished off the dregs, shaking head.</p><p>“Just staying here, handling some…” he paused for a moment as if he suddenly wasn’t sure he wanted to tell her. “unexpected paperwork.” They both knew that the “unexpected paperwork” he was referring to was more follow-up reports on the beach incident. Persephone looked down at her lap, suddenly doubting whether she should ask for the favour she wanted. B<em>ut if he was truly mad at me</em>, she thought, <em>he wouldn’t have stayed with me and he wouldn’t have invited me to breakfast.</em></p><p>Hades felt hot guilt crawl up his chest when he saw Persephone’s reaction to his statement. He hadn’t wanted to lie. <em>I could have been more subtle about it,</em> he chastised himself. <em>Fates,</em> he swore at himself, <em>she is nice enough to entertain your breakfast offer and you go and guilt-trip her</em>. Hades was about to embark on an internal self-deprecation when suddenly Persephone spoke up.</p><p>“May I stay here today?” This was the opposite of where Hades had thought the conversation was going to go. He had expected the next words out of her mouth to be her excusing herself so she could get on with her day. His surprise did not register well with Persephone who started to plead her case. “I have my own work to do, and I just find it harder to focus on Olympus, its just so….” <em>Full of Apollo, full of people who don’t trust my judgment, people who keep worrying about me.</em> None of those options seemed suitable.</p><p>“Distracting” she finally said.</p><p>“Of course!” Hades tried to contain his own excitement; Persephone let out a breath she hadn’t known she was holding. Now that he knew the end of breakfast would not be the end of their time together, Hades stood up to clear the dishes. It was rare he ever had to clear up two sets of dishes. It brought him a strange joy that washed away any of the guilt he had felt moments before. He knew they would have to talk about the beach incident, but for the time being, it seemed to be more of a professional issue than a personal one.</p><p>Despite his protests, Persephone insisted on helping clean up. This was another nice change from what his previous morning companion would do. They settled into a comfortable silence as they cleaned up. Hades was certain he saw Persephone sneak the other dogs some of the leftover toast (not Cerberus since he had clearly already had his fair share). Truly he did not mind, and it was nice to see that somebody else was as affectionate towards his pack as he was.</p><p>“Do you need to go back and grab your books?” He asked when the kitchen was clean.</p><p>“Nope!” Persephone held up her bag, triumphantly. “All here!” Hades was secretly pleased she was so prepared. He had not felt like tempting the fates by popping back to Olympus.</p><p>“I was going to work in my office,” he said, starting towards the hallway, “would you be OK there too?”</p><p>Persephone nodded, “Wherever I won’t distract you is fine with me.”</p><p>Hades was suddenly very grateful that Persephone was so much smaller than him because there was no way she could see the top of his ears turning deep blue as he blushed. There was no way for her to be in the house without him being acutely aware of her.</p><p>“I will let you know if you become too <em>distracting</em>,” he said. His emphasis on the word distracting made it very clear what kind of context he was referring to. Persephone desperately wanted to flirt back.</p><p><em>Then why don’t you</em>, said the voice in her head, <em>there is nobody here. He is already trying to flirt with you, you have already admitted that there are feelings there. If you want to do it, do it.</em></p><p>“Well, if I get bored I may have to test your limits” with her comment she grabbed his hand as he led her towards his large office. They had spent all night together, but this simple gesture felt strangely intimate in the metaphorical light of day. Despite the short-circuiting that took place in his brain when she took his hand, Hades was able to calmly rub circles on the back of her hand with his thumb as if they did this all the time.</p><p>~~~~</p><p>Persephone had been content to set herself up in the chair in the corner of his home office while Hades’ occupied his normal seat at his desk. Despite their previous jibes at each other, it was remarkably easy to work in the same space. While they both knew physical contact would send them reeling with excited energy, just being present in the same space together was very calming. It was not just the presence of the goddess that was making his space feel different, but it took Hades a while to figure out what it was.</p><p>Normally working from home would mean that Hades had one dog in his lap, at least two by his feet and the rest rustling around the office trying to get his attention. Currently, his leg space and peripheral vision were completely devoid of any canines. Looking up, he saw that his “loyal” dogs had all congregated around Persephone. Not only that, but most of them were also asleep or incredibly quiet. Like Hades, they seemed perfectly content just being close to her.</p><p>Persephone had pulled her hair back into a bun and had absentmindedly stuck a pen through it. But she also had a pen in her hand that she was using to annotate her notes. This left Hades wondering if she had forgotten about the pen in her hair. As he stared, taking in the sight of the bright woman, surrounded by his dogs, working calmly as if they did this every day, he was reminded of what he thought the first time she had been here. <em>I would pay you a salary to barge in on every aspect of my life.</em> Hades did not really have that much paperwork to do, mostly just crossing <em>t</em>s and dotting <em>i</em>s. But he wanted to make sure it was all done properly so that it would not keep coming back to haunt them. He had made it sound like he had a lot of work to do to hide the fact that if Persephone had left, he probably would’ve just sat on his couch for the next few hours thinking about how great the previous night had been. He was about to do the final read over of his report when he saw Persephone grab something out of her bag.</p><p>Hades angled his head in confusion, much like he had when she had grabbed that reporter during the tour. It was shaped like a laptop, in the sense that it was a rectangle that opened into a larger rectangle. But it didn’t look like a functional laptop. It had tape crisscrossed across the top and Hades could already hear the fan spinning at a concerning speed.</p><p>“What is that?” He asked incredulously.</p><p>“My laptop,” she said defensively, squaring her shoulders to show that despite her laptop’s appearance, she was confident it would do what she needed. Hades chuckled and leaned back in his chair.</p><p>“You know that I run and own the company that makes laptops, I can give you one if you like.” He paused, hoping to make it clear that it was a genuine offer.</p><p>“Do you get your other interns’ laptops?” She countered, aware that this argument had worked for her before.</p><p>“No,” Hades rolled his eyes but became more serious. “But I get them for people who are important to me”. He met her gaze and smiled at her from across the room. It was Persephone’s turn to blush.</p><p>“Well, I still say no, this one will do just fine for now” Hades wanted to insist that she deserved better than “just fine”. Now that he had no more work to focus on, he found his mind was getting lost thinking about everything he wanted to do and say to her. Now that he knew she hadn’t been running away from their kiss, he was letting himself get just a little bit hopeful that their relationship could grow. <em>Stop it, stop it.</em> He chastised himself. <em>If you get into your head like this, you’re going to make some premature declaration.</em> He ran his hand through his hair nervously. <em>She is just sitting there doing schoolwork. You can put a little more effort into being romantic.</em></p><p>“Why are you wearing a suit?” Persephone’s voice cut through his daydream. “Do you always work from home in a suit?” She was teasing now.</p><p>“You’re wearing a nice dress,” He countered. Using this opportunity to openly appreciate the beauty of his guest.</p><p>“I knew you’d get me on a technicality,” She giggled, now repeating his own words back at him. “But when I got dressed, I didn’t think I would spend all day at home, these are not clothes that I normally just hang out in.”</p><p>Hades realized, with some embarrassment, that while she looked great, it was probably not comfortable trying to curl up in a chair with a bunch of dogs and schoolwork while in a dress. <em>You should’ve offered h</em>er something more comfortable. She’s probably cold but has been too nice to bring it up. His internal argument started again. <em>Well, nothing is stopping you from offering her something now</em>, the more reasonable and less anxious part of his personality reminded him.</p><p>“Would you like to borrow something? I’ve got lots of sweaters.”</p><p>Persephone smiled and nodded; she would be lying if she said she was displeased with the direction the conversation had taken. She had very much enjoyed snuggling into Hades’ sweater the night before and was enthusiastic about getting to surround herself in one.</p><p>“That would be lovely, thank you.” Hades got up very quickly and left, not wanting to keep her waiting.</p><p>In his room, Hades looked at his wardrobe and flashed back to the night before when he had been summoned. While it was true that it did take a minute for the summoning to work, that was set up on purpose to give him a chance to prepare before departing. It would be rather embarrassing if he was summoned directly out of the shower or in an even more compromising situation. Last night, Hades spent that time panicking and trying to figure out what kind of outfit would be appropriate for showing up in a goddess’s bedroom in the middle of the night. It was a very undignified couple of seconds. Ultimately, he forgot about the outfit change and just showed up as is. As the Fates would have it, he had been perfectly dressed for the situation that awaited him. He grabbed a large sweater and headed back downstairs. He didn’t grab any shorts. This sweater would be a dress on her, and he didn’t think he had any shorts that wouldn’t just fall down her legs. Hades would be lying if he said he wasn’t going to enjoy the sight of her bare legs sticking out of one of his sweaters.</p><p><br/>When he returned Persephone seemed to be taking a break by showering Russel and Mushroom with affection. As Hades watched, she seemed to hit the sweet spot on Russel. She had been scratching his chin when he suddenly slid to the floor and rolled onto his back to beg for belly rubs. They both laughed. Walking over he crouched down, handed Persephone the sweater, and fulfilled Russel’s demand for a belly rub. Persephone looked down at the pair, with a very fond smile. But Hades did not see this since he was looking down at his dog. <em>This is so nice,</em> she thought, for what must be the hundredth time that day.</p><p>“I’ve got done what I needed to.” He said, standing up. Persephone looked back up at him from her abysmal laptop. “I’m going to go for a swim.” This would also give her a chance to change without him hanging around like some creep. “But please feel free to stay for as long as you’d like.” Persephone nodded contently, to Hades, she seemed quite focused on whatever her task was.</p><p>As he left, he got a glimpse of her impeccable notes. He saw the heading on the top of the page was “Allosteric Inhibition” which he knew nothing about but clearly, Kore was very invested in it and knew enough to make gorgeous, colour-coded notes. Once again, he was struck by her. He knew she was smart, but what impressed him the most is that her level of kindness and generosity was equal. He had been around top business executive and tech moguls to know that most people who were smart relied on it like a crutch. They felt that making sure everybody in the room knew how smart they were was more important than bothering to be a decent person. They knew they could be as rude as they wanted because people needed their brain and their ideas. Kore may be Demeter’s daughter, which came with obvious privilege, but Hades was confident even without that Kore could run Olympus if she wanted to. <em>Or the Underworld.</em> Said the young voice in his head, <em>its nice to have her here.</em></p><p><em>You’re getting ahead of yourself, again</em>. He said to himself, now in the pool room. He quickly changed into his swim trunks and plunged into the cold water. He had hoped the sudden shock of cold water would clear out all the “Kore” thoughts that he was having. It did not. He started swimming through the water, reaching far forward in a front crawl that sent water flying by his ears. Each time a current passed his ear it was if the water was whispering <em>“Kore, Kore, Kore.</em>” Maybe it was. Maybe his brother was somehow trying to be a wingman. It was not helping.</p><p>~~~~</p><p>When he was satisfied with his workout, he pulled himself out of the pool, stripped off his trunks, and had a quick rinse in the nearby shower. He didn’t really keep many clothes down in the pool room, but he pulled on a pair of grey sweatpants and decided to make his way back to his office to see how Persephone was doing. Looking at the clock on the stove, it was well into the afternoon and she had been working for several hours already. He didn’t see any sign that she had been in the kitchen recently, so Hades decided to make a pit stop and make her a cup of tea.</p><p>Even knowing she was in there, it still pleased him to see her there. In addition to the sweater he had left her with, she had also found a pair of his reading glasses, and a wreath of blue flowers had bloomed at her crown. She looked up at him as he walked in. The reading glasses made her eyes appear even bigger and more captivating than they normally were. He could hear the fan going again on the laptop. He kneeled to brace himself on the edge of the chair he suppressed a laugh when he realized she only had a word document open and that was apparently enough to overheat her device.</p><p>“You really need a new laptop, Kore,” he sighed, but she only rolled her eyes and smiled. He glanced at the screen, Hades was very confident in his expertise regarding economics and finance. Persephone seemed to be writing something about energy acquisition via beta-oxidation. Hades didn’t try and read further.</p><p>“I made you some tea,” he said.</p><p>“Oh, thank you!” she gushed, Persephone seemed genuinely thrilled. “That was very thoughtful of you.”</p><p>With Hades kneeling, Persephone was a few inches above him. She took advantage of this new dynamic and place a quick kiss on his forehead in thanks. Hades' jaw dropped slightly, feeling giddy. He was surprised they had gotten to this level of casual physical intimacy so quickly. His gut instinct was to kiss her in full, surely, she had done enough work for the day. But that was selfish. Instead, he got up, kissing her cheek as he passed by.</p><p>“I’ll let you keep working,” he said, “I’ll be downstairs if you need me,” He turned and walked out of the room. Persephone noted that still, none of the dogs followed him. When she was confident that he was out of earshot she sighed and held the hot mug of tea to her chest. If she had been standing her legs would have gone weak when he walked in. He was, of course, very attractive when he was done up in his suits. But there was something about seeing him casually half-dressed, with his chest still a little damp from his swim.</p><p>She could not get over how pleasant it was to be here. Persephone had struggled to feel at home in Artemis’ house. This was before the Apollo situation occurred. It just felt that while Persephone was welcome, she was a guest. You don't sneak around your own home. Even though Persephone wanted to feel at home with Artemis, she also felt guilty for taking advantage of the other goddess’ hospitality only to throw it back at her when she announced that she was leaving TGOEM.</p><p>While Persephone was not a completely honest version of herself with Hades, not yet anyway. She was the most honest around him and confident that as things went forward, she would be able to reveal her truths without fear of retribution. She sipped her tea. If the past 12 hours were anything to go by, Persephone only wanted to keep moving forward with Hades. This was a strange thought for her. She had been so determined to come to Olympus and become her own person. However, she didn’t really feel like she wasn’t becoming her own person by pursuing this relationship with Hades.<em> I guess being your own person you are just doing what you want, without the influence of others</em>.</p><p>She stared down into her cup, the steam condensing on Hades’ glasses. <em>And I want this</em>. A little voice in the back of her head was asking if this was just a way to reclaim herself after what Apollo did. But Persephone reminded herself that he had taken her agency only in those few moments, not all the moments for the rest of her life. She felt happy and safe with Hades, and Apollo was not the cause of that. Just because he had taken advantage of her and shown her how cruel people could be, that didn’t mean that her standards were lower and that she was happy with Hades because he was doing the bare minimum to be a good man.</p><p>Independently, Hades had proved to her that he genuinely cared for her. He had been going above and beyond to show that he supported and respected her physical and emotional space. Not only that, now that she knew this was not all in her head, Persephone could also see the way that he lit up when she entered his space. He tried to hide it, but she could see. When he had walked in with her tea, he had seemed almost shocked at her continued presence. She wondered if it was as obvious on her own face that she was excited to see him. <em>I hope I’ll get to feel this way all the time</em>. Persephone started to lose herself in daydreams of what it would be like if she just lived here all the time. It got to the point that she had to physically shake her head to try and clear her mind and focus again. While she enjoyed being here, she had not been lying. It was easier to focus here, and she did need to be productive. Besides, she wanted to be able to enjoy some guilt-free time with Hades later.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Saturday Night</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Again I have been inspired by fanart by @maca.mars on Instagram. You should all go check her art out, it's pretty awesome.</p><p>More hurt/comfort stuff this time around but there is a tiny bit of fluff. </p><p>Scene transitions are marked with "~~~"<br/>Start and end of anything to do with the Apollo situation marked with "***"</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The rest of the afternoon went just as smoothly as the first half of the day. The closest thing they came to a fight was when they were addressing who would make dinner. Ultimately, Hades won but only when he agreed to let Persephone make breakfast by herself for them tomorrow. Hades considered this a win-win since they hadn’t discussed whether she would go home that evening. Initially, they had both been working on their respective meals in the kitchen. Persephone wanted to make cinnamon buns that would have to rise overnight. So, while Hades started on their pasta, he watched Persephone carefully knead the dough and deftly form several rolls that were then placed in the fridge for later enjoyment. Persephone stood awkwardly for a moment once her tasks were done and the counter had been cleared of excess flour. Glancing around she decided to just take up perch on the counter. She probably could have gone to sit in the living room with the dogs or watch him from the dining room table. But she didn’t feel like it.</p><p>Persephone watched Hades from her spot on the counter. She was still wearing Hades’ large sweater as a dress. The backs of her thighs were very cold where they were directly touching the countertop. But it was a nice counterbalance to the constant flush she was feeling watching Hades confidently maneuver his way around the kitchen and give her the occasional chaste cheek or leg brush if she happened to be in the way of something he needed. Persephone wasn’t actually taking up enough space to be in the way of anything, but Hades still made every excuse he could to touch her. They were not talking about anything in particular, but Persephone felt dishonest by not addressing an elephant in the room. When she had left the office earlier, she had seen the stacks of paperwork that he had been going through. The paperwork about her. He had seemed very disappointed and hurt the day of. If he still felt this way, he wasn’t showing it. Persephone wasn’t sure if this was a good thing.</p><p>“Are you angry with me?” She asked, looking down at her feet that were swinging slowly above the ground. “About the beach?” Hades stopped stirring for a moment and stared into the pasta sauce he was working on. All the ease had suddenly evaporated out of the room. You could snap the tension like a violin string. But he didn’t answer, instead, he asked his own question.</p><p>“Did you think it was safe?” His tone didn’t betray his motivation for this question.</p><p>“No,” Persephone stated, a little bit ashamed about how impulsive that must make her seem.</p><p>“Did you think I wouldn’t listen to you if you wanted to talk about it?” Persephone’s jaw dropped. He sounded sad this time. She wasn’t sure if she could answer that question with a simple yes or no.</p><p>“I am just an intern. I didn’t want people to think you were giving me special treatment by letting me influence how you run things. I-I didn’t think the shades would react like that. I thought they would understand.” Persephone felt her voice crack. “I didn’t want you to have to save me.” She was fully staring at her feet now and could not see Hades. But she heard a click that sounded like him turning off the gas on his stove. <em>Oh</em>, she thought sadly, <em>he’s going to make me leave</em>. But instead of asking her to get out, suddenly Hades was leaning over in front of her and holding her face in his hands. Making sure that she was looking at him when he spoke.</p><p>“Then I am not mad,” he said kindly. Persephone felt her eyebrows shoot up in surprise. She was about to speak but he stopped her. “If you knew it wasn’t safe but still did it, you clearly felt strongly that it was the right thing to do. I cannot help but admire that, and all we can do is what we think is right. But there was one flaw in your logic” He was smirking now, which made Persephone very curious. She was still shocked; this was far from the tongue lashing she expected from a King. “It’s not special treatment to listen to a good idea from a smart employee. Just because you are new and younger doesn’t invalidate your ideas.” He sounded, proud?</p><p>“You should not have gone behind my back.” He clarified, a little more harshly. “But I am partly to blame because I hadn’t done enough to make you feel comfortable coming to talk to me about this.” It was Hades’ turn to look at the ground now and Persephone felt her guilt return. She hopped off the counter to get into Hades' line of sight. <em>An unexpected benefit of being short</em>, she thought. They were now a reverse tableau of a moment prior as Persephone reached up to cup his face.</p><p>“We both made mistakes, and we are both sorry.” Persephone moved to wrap her arms around his torso, pressing her face into the cotton of his shirt. She felt his arms respond in kind and hold her in an even tighter hug. After a few moments, she mumbled against his shirt. “So… does this mean that you’re abandoning the classist fare collection?” She felt Hades bark out a laugh and the quick brush of air over the top of her head.</p><p>“It means I will try. But there are governing boards and other deities that I’m sure will get in the way. You and I will also have to set up a more formal meeting to discuss it and make it official” Persephone pulled away and looked up at him in mock shock.</p><p>“A private audience with the King!” she gasped. “What have I done to deserve such an honour!” Hades let out a real laugh this time that caused his eyes to crinkle very pleasantly.</p><p>“It is me who should feel honoured.” He said, in a rush of spontaneity he wrapped both his arms tightly around her waist and spun her around, eliciting a fit of giggles before placing Persephone back on the counter so he could finish dinner.</p><p>~~~</p><p>This was the first supper that Persephone had eaten at Hades’ house. But the dogs clearly had a routine based around when Hades’ finished eating because cleaning up their dishes was much more complicated by the dogs winding around their feet.</p><p>“We all normally go out to the yard,” He explained as Russel almost sent Persephone flying into the kitchen island by unexpectedly appearing at her feet. She didn’t need to hear any more than that. Almost immediately they were all outside. The dogs were delighted by a new game as Hades and Persephone tossed a ball back and forth over the muddle of dogs between them. Every so often one of the dogs would successfully snatch the ball out of the air and tear around the yard in victory with another canine in pursuit. Having two godly playmates seemed to be quite overwhelming for some of the dogs, who seemed to struggle to decide which one they wanted attention from. But, as they had done earlier in the day, the novelty of Persephone seemed to crown her the winner and she found herself overwhelmed with requests for ball throws and belly rubs. This left Hades standing off to the side with Cordon Bleu at his feet and Pomelia in his arms. The former deciding, he was satisfied with only 10 minutes of playtime, the latter being just a little bit too small to safely navigate around the much larger and rambunctious animals.</p><p>Once all the dogs seemed to be cooling down, Persephone jogged over to where Hades was leaning in the patio doorframe. She had a lovely flush and some strands of hair had come loose and stuck to her cheeks. She stood up straight, hands on her hips as she gave a dramatic deep breath.</p><p>She tilted her head at him mischievously, “If you have any intention of getting all snuggled up again tonight,” she laughed as a look of excitement crossed Hades’ face. “I need a shower.” She had not intended for this to be a scandalous statement, but Hades suddenly flushed a deep blue and she saw his pupils expand to the size of saucers. Persephone’s mind started to race.<em> Is that what I want? That wasn’t what I meant, but maybe? No, not yet. You kissed him in the rain, you don’t have to be dripping wet every time you kiss him.</em></p><p>
  <em>Oh, GODS! </em>
</p><p>She was very glad Hade’s suite of powers did not include mind reading.</p><p>~~~</p><p>Hades had seemed mostly relieved when she clarified she could shower alone. He had very graciously lead her to the bathroom and made sure she had everything she needed and told her he’d just be waiting in bed when she was done.</p><p>In bed.</p><p>Waiting for <em>her</em>.</p><p>She knew Hades didn’t expect anything from her in the intimacy department, and for that she was grateful. Not that she didn’t want to “devour him”, but it was nice to know they could take their time. Racking her brain, the only type of physical contact she could remember Hades initiating before that day was holding hands. Their embrace in Tartarus, their kiss, when she hugged him last night, that had all been her. He was waiting for her, but not expecting anything. But there was something she felt like she should do.</p><p>***</p><p>Being alone in the shower had catalyzed an internal debate. She did not feel like she owed Hades the information about what Apollo had done to her, that was her story to tell whenever she felt like it. But she wanted to tell him soon. She wasn’t sure what would happen if their physical intimacy started to go farther than it had the other day. She had read a little bit about triggers, and she was worried that something might happen with Hades. She kept returning to the idea that she didn’t want what had happened to keep stealing moments of joy from her. It was one thing for Hades to be aware of the history when they started to become more intimate, it was another for it to suddenly derail them right in the middle of it. If she was going to tell him, she wanted it to be an active choice done outside the context of her and Hades’ intimacy. She let out a large breath, shutting off the water and slicking her hands over her head to flick off any excess water. After drying off she found the pyjama shirt that had been laid out for her. It was just a very large, white T-shirt. But just like Hades’ sweater, it hung on her small frame like a dress. She pulled it over her head and walked out of the ensuite.</p><p>Hades was already in bed; the dark sheets were settled on his hips. His chest was bare and contrasted against the charcoal sheets it drew Persephone’s attention even more. She was tracing the lines of his scars up his torso when he caught her staring.</p><p>“Is this ok?” he sounded worried and sat up. “I can go put a sweater on if you want.” Persephone snapped back to attention.</p><p>“No, no,” she laughed, hopping into the bed beside him. “It’s more than alright.” He leaned back against his headboard and she took the opportunity to situate herself snugly next to his side as he draped one arm over her. To further demonstrate her comfort, she placed one hand on his chest and started to trace down the scars etched on his skin. “I wasn’t staring because I was offended.” She whispered, the angle of her head causing her breath to dance down his chest, sending a noticeable shiver through him. Hades stared down at her dumbly, his brain was short-circuiting again and he couldn’t quite figure out what to say.</p><p>“That feels nice,” he finally said. <em>Very smooth, Hades</em>, he thought. Mentally hitting the back of his head off the headboard. But Persephone didn’t seem to notice his lame response. They just sat quietly for a few moments, at some point Hades had started tracing circles on Persephone’s arm.</p><p>“May I tell you something?” She said finally, her tone didn’t seem like this was just a little “fun fact” that she was about to divulge.</p><p>“Of course,” Hades said immediately, letting his grip go as she moved to look at him face to face. He was suddenly very worried about a lot of things. Was this too much? Had she just realized that this wasn’t a good idea? Hades had a lot of practice coming up with bad scenarios and worrying about them, but somehow in all his worrying, he had never anticipated the words that came out of her mouth.</p><p>He saw her lips move, heard, and registered her words. He saw the tears brimming in her eyes and she waited for his reaction. His emotions seemed to be happening behind a plane of glass. He felt that familiar sensation of rage course through him that undoubtedly meant his eyes had turned red, he felt that tingle of power that would accompany the change into his godly form. He couldn’t believe it. Not that he didn’t believe <em>her</em>. She had no reason to lie and this was quite a lie to tell. Nobody would make up this kind of story. What he couldn’t believe is that somebody would do it to her. She was smart, she was confident, she could handle herself. This wouldn’t have been just a little misunderstanding between two consenting adults. Apollo actively chose to disregard any kind of ownership that Persephone had over her own body and relationships because he wanted to feel powerful. From their conversation last week, he knew she had doubts at TGOEM, was it because of what he did? <em>No, of course not.</em> He thought. <em>I may not like or agree with Hestia all the time, but she wouldn’t let this get in the way if it was what Kore wanted. Her distancing from TGOEM was her own choice, it wasn’t about any other god.</em> All his rage suddenly snapped off as suddenly as it had come on. This wasn’t about him either.</p><p>He could be angry later, but he wasn’t sure Kore had come to him because she wanted him to be angry.</p><p>“Why are you telling me this,” he asked gently. Persephone slumped suddenly, he realized this could be interpreted as dismissive. “I mean, do you want to talk about it? Because we can. If you’re angry, I can be angry too, we can figure out what to do going forward. Or if all you wanted to do was tell me we can just sit.” Persephone stared and thought for a moment. The fear of Hades’ reaction had almost kept her from telling him. After all, how do you tell somebody information you know will upset them. She didn’t want to cause him any more pain than he had already experienced. With all that worrying she had not stopped to think about what kind of reaction she wanted. She really didn’t feel like talking about it anymore. She was also very grateful that he hadn’t flown into a rage. She wasn’t sure what she would have done in that situation.</p><p>“I just wanted to tell you.” She said finally. Hades nodded solemnly. He had not reached out to touch her after her admission, it didn’t seem appropriate to try and comfort somebody physically without their consent. They were both quiet for a moment as they both processed what she had just disclosed.</p><p>“I would also like a hug.” She said meekly. Hades felt like he could not wrap his arms around her fast enough. They sat together for a long time, Persephone had one cheek against his chest and had curled her knees up to her chest. Hades kept one arm around her and stroked her hair with his free hand. He could feel warm tears making their way down his bare skin. He didn’t react, she felt comfortable enough right now to cry and he didn’t want to do anything to make her feel self-conscious. He also didn’t want her to feel guilty, so he made the choice to turn his head a stare out the window instead of down at the Goddess in his arms. That way she would not see that he was crying too.</p><p>***</p><p>Hades wasn’t sure how long they sat there. Together, they had gradually started to slide down the headboard and were now lying flat on the bed. Persephone still had her face pressed against his chest, but her breathing had evened out. At some point he had started rubbing wide circles on her back, timing them with her inhales and exhales. <em>I wish she would say something</em>, he thought, <em>not necessarily about this, but it would be nice to hear her voice, then I would know she was ok</em>.</p><p>Hades had been having trouble corralling his thoughts, thinking about all the signs he had missed, all the other things he could have said to warn her. He knew that the culture surrounding consent could be foggy at best with some of the very prominent Olympians. He blamed Apollo, he blamed himself, he blamed Zeus. He blamed any being that had let this kind of thing go on. They had been around for thousands of years. They had technology that could connect realms, but nobody had thought it was important to establish the importance of consent. This didn’t just happen to Persephone; this had been happening for eons. While it wouldn’t fix anything in the big picture, Hades was sure he would feel much better if he could punch Apollo so hard that he flew into Tartarus.</p><p>Hades turned his head to look at his bedside table, hoping to find a book or something that might be a good distraction if she wanted it. He scanned down a series of barely cracked book spines. The books by his bed were a sad stack of unfinished books that he kept around purely for sleepless nights and not particularly for enjoyment. But as the fates would have it, there was one book he thought Kore might like. He stopped tracing the circles on her back but kept the other arm wrapped around her waist, securing her to him as he rolled over slightly to pluck the book off the shelf. For a moment Persephone found herself tucked, but not stuck, between him and the bed. A wave of relief passed over her as she realized this hadn’t ignited a fight or flight response.</p><p>She looked up at him when they were lying prone again. Hades resisted the urge to smile at the adorable way she tilted her head when he held up the book. It was some book about plants that Hades had picked up when he had considered trying to get something other than pomegranates to grow down here.</p><p>“Would you like a distraction?” He asked, “I don’t know if it’s interesting, but it might get your mind off of things if you want.” Persephone wanted to cry, but this time it was of relief. She felt her eyes start to well up but hoped that the smile on her face would show that he hadn’t upset her. She nodded enthusiastically and Hades moved the book out in front of them. She threaded herself in between his arms to rest in between his chin and the open book. He had just opened to a random page, so she started to read aloud. Her voice was hoarse from crying, but Hades tried to ignore it. Instead of focusing on how weak it was at the beginning, he noticed how it was getting stronger with each syllable. They fell into a comfortable rhythm. Kore reading while Hades turned pages. He wasn’t sure what time it was, but it must have been getting late because Hades could feel his eyes getting heavy. This was also most likely an artifact of the calming effect the Goddess snuggled up to his chest was having on him.</p><p>“The strongest plants are becoming stronger,” Kore recited, “Vines cannot take over a healthy forest; they require a disturbance in order to take hold. Some gash has to create open soil, a hollow trunk, a sunny patch that a vine can come into.” She paused, a beat of silence before Hades turned the page. The sound of paper rubbing against paper was like a soothing whisper. “People can disturb like nothing else: we plow, pave, burn chop, and dig.” Persephone kept reading; this was not new information to her given her domain of expertise. But Hades seemed content and relaxed, so she kept going. It wasn’t until she reached the bottom of the page that she realized how relaxed.</p><p>“Hades, you can turn the page now,” She said gently. Her pause in reading was met with a silence that was not broken by the whisper of paper on paper but of a gentle snore. She turned to look at him, propping herself up with one hand to look down at him.</p><p>He was fast asleep, a small smile playing at the corner of his lips. The words from the book now acting as the narration for his dream. His imagination was not being particularly active, there wasn’t much going on but, like many dreams as of late, he was looking at Persephone. She looked different, normally she was guarded, carefully balancing the weight of other’s expectations. This Persephone seemed to glow with freedom as she looked at him. They were somewhere in the Underworld, craggy rocks and cracked dirt surrounded them. But slowly vines started slithering around them, lush and green, and filling the air with the smell of rain and grass clippings. The vines started moving up, away from the ground towards the sunless sky until they found themselves cut off from the rest of the world by a wall of vines. Her power was not smothered by the Underworld, if anything it was enhanced. She was strong. But the wall was not for protection; it was just so they could be together without fear of disturbance. Normally, some part of Hades’ mind had to remind him these were far-fetched fantasies. He might never marry her, he might never have a queen, he would never have a family. But this wasn't impossible, they could just be together.</p><p>Persephone chucked as Hades gave another snore. She had fallen asleep first the night before, so she hadn’t noticed this particular habit. She pulled the book from his hand and placed it back on the nightstand, turning off the lamp before turning back around to snuggle back in. Hades’ room was colder than hers, but Hades made a very effective space heater. Especially without his sweater acting as a barrier. For most of the previous night, they had slept back to front. Persephone facing away as Hades curled around her. But tonight, she wanted to watch him as she fell asleep. The city lights pouring in through his large windows were enough to illuminate his face. She wanted to memorize every facet of this moment. She was not naïve enough to think that this bubble they were in wouldn't burst. When everything started to shatter around her, she wanted to make sure she had something to hold onto.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>The fluff will return for the next (and the last) chapter!<br/>The fanart inspiring the end of this chapter is again my @maca.mars and can be seen here:https://www.instagram.com/p/CAoZLkLF1fS/<br/>The book they were reading is Lab Girl by Hope Jahren.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Sunday Morning</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Sorry this update took so long! Things got busy. Once again inspired by the beautiful artwork done by maca.mars on Instagram.<br/>I have no warnings for this chapter as its pretty much just domestic fluff and flirting.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Hades had a personal rule of no alarms on Sundays. That way, if it was a rare occasion where he was able to sleep through the night, he could compensate for any sleep lost during the week and wake up naturally. As such, he had no idea what time it was when he started to feel the darkness of his dreamless sleep fading away. He took a deep breath as he lay on his back, not yet opening his eyes. Hades could sleep like a log, so sometimes it took a few moments for him to shake the weight of sleep off his limbs.</p><p>As he became more aware of his surroundings, several things occurred to him at once. The first, that his room didn’t smell like it normally did. He was normally met with the smells of clean linen and soap. At that moment he got a full inhale of sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon. The second was that despite feeling that all the weight of sleep had disappeared from his body, there was still a very pleasant pressure right on top of his hips. Opening his eyes, he quickly found the cause of both things.</p><p>Persephone straddled his hips, looking down at him with a huge grin on her face, still in his big t-shirt. With her position, the hem of the shirt exposed most of her thigh. A very primal part of Hades’ brain wondered if it was only his bedsheet and pyjama bottoms that separated them. The more conscious and in control part of his mind realized that the sweet scent was coming from the warm cinnamon buns Persephone held in her hands.</p><p>“Breakfast in bed!” She chirped at him happily. Hades blinked up at her for a moment, pleasantly stunned. “You just seemed so sleepy and I was already awake. I thought it would be a nice surprise.”</p><p>“It is the best surprise I have ever received,” he said earnestly. He reached his hands down to lay them on top of her thighs. He had been prepared to just sit up and have her maintain her position as much as possible. But his hands on her skin seemed to make her realize her position and she scrambled off.</p><p>“Oh, I’m so sorry. I didn’t even…“ he cut her off with a laugh.</p><p>“A beautiful goddess who wakes me up by sitting on my lap and bringing me fresh baked goods does not have to apologize,” Kissing her forehand as he took a plate from her.</p><p>Apart from the appreciative moan Hades gave after his first bite, they ate in silence. Persephone had worried things would feel awkward after her confession the previous night, but the silence between them was as comfortable as if they did this every morning. She was sitting directly next to him, back pressed up against the headboard. With their height difference, she would struggle to even lay her head on his bare shoulder if she had wanted to. Her hands were obviously occupied with her breakfast, but she absentmindedly traced circles on the part of his leg she could reach with her toes. She sighed contently as her fork clinked onto an empty plate and turned to look out the large window.</p><p>They were very high up, and as such Persephone had a great view of the city. It was similar to what she would see at work since she also worked on the upper floors, but it was a slightly different angle. Even though she had only been coming to the Underworld for a short amount of time, she felt a bit embarrassed that most of her exploration of the underworld was done many stories up. She had yet to actually go down and take a look around. It was like trying to learn a town from only pictures.</p><p>Humming quietly to herself she pushed out of the bed and walked towards the window. Hades watched, transfixed, still not quite believing this whole situation was occurring. His white shirt against her magenta skin made her stand out starkly against the skyline. Silhouetted against the dark colours of the electric city, she looked…</p><p>Blurry.</p><p>Hades turned away quickly to grab his glasses from his nightstand, cursing his short-sightedness. When he looked back, she was swaying slowly from one foot to the other, looking down at the late morning street population.</p><p>“What do you think?” He asked, surprised by how self-conscious he sounded.</p><p>“I think it’s wonderful,” She said in earnest. “Of course, it’s not what I’m used to waking up to. No sunlight, no trees. But everything has its place, everything well thought out. It’s a different kind beautiful” She tossed him a look over her shoulder, trying to imply that this was a compliment to him as well. Blue flowers were blooming at her crown.</p><p>“Most people say its intimidating,” He informed her, thinking of the hundreds of hushed voices from Olympus tour groups that he’d heard over the years.</p><p>“Most people probably just haven’t gotten to know it,” she said, turning around and walking back to the edge of the bed where Hades was now sitting. When she was with reach, Hades reached up and grasped at the fabric against her hip, using that to pull her closer. Persephone giggled, noticing the addition of the glasses as she ran her fingers down his cheek.</p><p>“Do you need those to enjoy your view?” She teased.</p><p>“Not anymore,” He said, grinning cheekily at her as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her down onto the bed with him. She did not land directly on top of him, instead, fitting back into her spot, tucked into his side with their legs tangled together. Persephone looked up at him, in the pause just after they landed on the bed, she had been certain he would kiss her. It had seemed like the natural progression of how the morning was going. Much to her disappointment, when he opened his mouth, he said something much less romantic.</p><p>“We should get up and feed the dogs.”</p><p>“It’s already done.” She said proudly. Hades’ raised one eyebrow quizzically. He had very different dogs with several feeding regimens. Feeding them was quite the chore. “You, <em>sir</em>,” she said teasingly, waving a finger at him. “Are incredibly organized. It was not difficult for me to find their food and the feeding schedule you left out for the dog sitter.” His words caused him to blush. Both because of her kindness and, because of the way she teasingly called him “<em>sir</em>”. Persephone shuffled to prop herself up on Hades' bare chest. “So, there’s no need to get up yet if you don’t want to.”</p><p>“I would be a liar if I said I wanted to get myself out of this situation right now.” He reached out towards Persephone, tracing his fingers up her arm closest to him. She tilted her head and smiled down at him tenderly.</p><p>“May I ask you something?” Hades said suddenly, surprising himself. What he wanted to ask had been on his mind for a while, but he hadn’t expected to act on it. <em>That pretty much summarizes this entire weekend</em>, he chuckled to himself. She had now moved to lay on his chest, head tilted to the side, so Hades could still only see the top of her head as he looked down at her. He wondered if she could hear how fast his heart was beating.</p><p>“Of course,” she said. Her voice didn’t betray any concern. But there were things she didn’t want to address yet. For example, she wasn’t sure what she would say if he asked about Apollo or the situation with her mother.</p><p>“The butterfly thing…” he started, he sounded more nervous than he intended. And certainly, more nervous than Persephone had anticipated because suddenly her face was upturned, looking at him with curiosity. “Does that…um…happen every time?” He didn’t elaborate, but it was clear what he meant. She twisted around, propping herself up on her elbows.</p><p>“Every time I kiss somebody?” there was a slight giggle as she realized how embarrassed the King of the Underworld seemed to be by asking this question. Hades nodded. She leaned back down, she let both her forearms rest across Hades’ chest, propping up her head on her intertwining fingers.</p><p>“Would you like to find out?” Hades was pleasantly surprised to see the mischievous look present on her face. She was playing him like a chess game, and she knew she had him in checkmate. However, he was feeling distinctly less defeated by the outcome of <em>this</em> game.</p><p>There were only so many emotions somebody could feel. Having been around for several centuries, Hades was quite familiar with most of them. While he would never claim to know what absolute love felt like, but he knew what it felt like when something momentous was occurring. That sudden and quick weightlessness as you felt like you were looking down upon yourself, but not recognizing the person because what had just transpired changed you so completely from who you had been seconds ago.</p><p>That is what he felt when he kissed Persephone.</p><p>Their first kiss had felt like a fever dream to Hades. Walking down the side of his building? Soaking wet? A passionate fight? An unexpected confession met with an enthusiastic response? After a few days, Hades could’ve easily convinced himself that was a dream. But in this familiar space, it was hard to deny. And his sheets would smell like her for days, a pleasant reminder of this unexpected weekend.</p><p>There was a moment of tension when their lips first met, both waiting for the other to draw back and declare this a mistake. When no sudden movements were made, both parties relaxed and melted into each other. Persephone let out a contented sigh, and Hades took that moment to deepen their kiss, pulling her up closer. He felt her legs slide to straddle him as she positioned herself on top of him.</p><p>They didn’t get much farther before realizing that Hades had never taken off his glasses. Persephone had awkwardly knocked his glasses askew on his face in her eagerness. She distanced herself to give him a chance to pull them off. Hades whipped them off and had pulled her back down before she could even make a playful jab at him.</p><p>Hades’ hands had moved from her face and we now resting heavily on her lower back, as if he was still scared she might disappear. She had no intention of leaving anytime soon. Breathing heavily she moved her fingers to his hair, she wasn’t sure if she had been too rough, but she did hear Hades let out the tiniest moan because of something she had done. She was not feeling entirely in control of her body, so she might have ground down on him a little harder than she consciously intended to.</p><p>Suddenly they were flipped, Hades sliding his arms underneath her, coming up to cradle her head as Persephone’s legs reflexively wrapped around his hips and held him close. The shirt she was wearing was now riding up above her hips to reveal that she did, in fact, have underwear on.</p><p>Hades moved from her now swollen lips towards her jaw. He felt Persephone’s hands cradling his head as he started peppering kisses down her throat. His movement stuttered for a moment when he felt her nibble on his earlobe and whisper breathlessly.</p><p>“If you keep kissing me like this,” She rolled her hips slightly, causing Hades to suck in and send a current of cool air across her throat, “I am not going to want to leave,”</p><p>“Maybe that’s the point,” He grinned devilishly, propping himself up to look down at her. Her pupils were blown wide, and her face a mask of awe that he was sure he mirrored.</p><p>“I don’t think we’d last long before Artemis would come and break down your door,” She giggled, although they both knew she was only half-joking. She tilted her heads towards the forearm framing her face, placing a delicate kiss on the scar she saw there. “But don’t worry,” She whispered, looking back up at him and reaching up to bring his face back down to her, “if I leave, I promise I’ll come back.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I hope you all enjoyed it! That's it for this story. </p><p>I threw in a Hadestown reference and included some glasses adorableness because I don't think we talk about Hades wearing glasses enough. (As someone who wears glasses, I also wanted to highlight the difficulties of a spontaneous makeout session when you wear them)</p><p>This is the picture I kept going back to when trying to come up with ideas for this chapter: https://www.instagram.com/p/B_AaRGfFY4d/</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hope you all enjoyed, I have planned for about 3 chapters. I'll be keeping it short and sweet. It will get heavier in the next chapter, but there will still be lots of domestic fluff.<br/>Once again, go check out @maca.mars on Instagram. You won't regret it. I was specifically inspired by this (https://www.instagram.com/p/CBhCJLxljsb/) post for this chapter.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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